“He brought me here and patched up my shoulder. Luckily, the bullet went all the way through. So, he stitched me up, and we had a little chat.”
“About?”
Please don’t say you talked about me.
“The missing crate of weapons that we stole.”
Right, of course.I felt stupid for thinking they’d be discussing me. There were clearly more important things to deal with.
“You know where they are?” I asked.
“Yep, and now Blade does, too.”
“I can’t believe you betrayed Las Balas.”
“I’m done with them. This whole thing was about greed and hatred, and I’m done with that. People died, and I could’ve been one of them. What if I’d bled out while they were fighting? I would have left Lexie and our kid behind, and for what? Some money that the club would keep? Besides, there’s a lot you don’t know about Las Balas, none of it good.”
“So, tell me,” I said, eager to finally hear the truth. “I need to know.”
Jason sighed and leaned his head back on his pillow with his eyes closed, but after a moment, he started to speak.
“Well, they have a history in some pretty notorious shit. Human trafficking, for instance. They kidnapped young girls and sold them.”
My stomach rolled. My god, I had no idea they’deverdone something like that. It was horrifying.
“When did they do that?”
“It went on for a long time,” he said. “They really just stopped a few years ago, mostly because Outlaw Souls got involved in shutting that shit down.”
“So, Dad…”
He nodded solemnly. “Dad was involved in it.”
I felt like my entire world shifted beneath my feet. I had always known that my dad was a selfish ass that devoted his life to Las Balas, but Ineverthought he’d do something like that. Those poor girls…
Blade must think I’m a complete idiot for giving these people my loyalty.
“There’s also heavy drug use and distributing, stealing, arms dealing. The list goes on. Basically, any illegal activity that could make them money, no matter how immoral it is.”
I remembered something from our conversation a few days ago. “You told me that Outlaw Souls harassed Rage’s girlfriend last year. Was that a lie?”
“Not really, but Rage had built a fucking meth lab in her basement, so some could argue that they had a good reason to bust up in there and clear that shit out.”
I shook my head in disgust. Nothing was quite what I thought it was.
“Why have you been trying to join for so long if you knew all this?”
“I don’t know anymore.” He scrubbed a hand down his face tiredly. “At first, it was to see what the big deal was. Why dad and others were so into it. And I’ll admit, there is something appealing about the comradery. Then, I had this relationship with Dad, and I don’t know…I guess that I convinced myself it wasn’t that bad. I know it sounds stupid.”
It did, but it was also so stupid of me to reject Blade when Las Balas was clearly the problem in La Playa. I had to make that right if he’d let me.
“You need to tell Lexie that you’re walking away,” I advised him. “Because she’s at the end of her rope right now.”
“I know.” Guilt was clear in the lines of his face. “I’ve been so stupid when it comes to her. It’s a miracle she puts up with me.”
“That’s what you do when you love someone,” I said, standing. “So, are you okay? Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m good. Are you going to talk to Blade?”
